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After Teen Snatches Phone Off Restaurant Table, Manager Chases Him Down

By Alisa Hauser | September 29, 2014 5:02pm
 The manager of The Carriage House in Wicker Park found the alleged thief hiding under a car.
The manager of The Carriage House in Wicker Park found the alleged thief hiding under a car.
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Shutterstock/file photo

WICKER PARK — The manager of a Wicker Park restaurant chased down a teenager who swiped a customer's phone off a table, pulling him out from under a car where he was hiding and holding him for police.

The dramatic chase happened after four teens walked by The Carriage House at 1700 W. Division St. around 8:15 p.m. Saturday, and one of them snatched a phone and wallet off an outdoor patio table, police said.

"I heard a commotion and started running after them," said manager Zach Friedlander.

Alisa Hauser says it was quite the chaotic scene at the restaurant after the phone was taken:

Three of the four kids ran into the underground CTA Division Blue Line "L" station, but another darted into parking lot next to a nearby CVS, Friedlander said.

"I saw a body underneath a car and reached my hand under there and pulled him out," said Friedlander, who, with the help of a bouncer from the nearby Bedford, stayed with the alleged thief until police arrived.

"He knew he was caught and waited patiently," Friedlander said of the boy.

According to Friedlander, a cell phone fell out of the boy's pocket as he was being dragged out from under the car. 

"I asked if it was his phone or not. He said he just found the phone. He had three phones on him.  I asked what his number was and called it. He only had one number that worked [for his phone]," Friedlander said.

The boy, who lives on West 104th Place, was identified as the one who stole the phone. He was charged in that theft and a second similar one, police said.

After his arrest, other police officers in the area connected a second theft that happened that night just a block away.

In that theft, Greg Nagel, a local real estate agent, was dining on the patio of Smoke Daddy, 1804 W. Division St., as he watched three young people approach. 

Nagel witnessed one grab a Samsung Galaxy 4 cell phone from the table. Nagel's friend, who owned the phone, was in the bathroom at the time of the theft.

Nagel said he "threw a half-eaten rib tip" at the teen before attempting to chase him for less than half a block.

"I'm 44 years old, even at 16 I could not catch this kid. He was fast," Nagel said.

With the help of police, Nagel said he identified the same 14-year-old arrested in the Carriage House incident as the person that swiped his friend's cell phone from The Smoke Daddy table.

The cell phone stolen in The Smoke Daddy incident was not recovered, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman who confirmed both incidents and the 14-year-old boy's arrest.

"You can't forget you are in the city and you have to secure your stuff and keep your guard up," Nagel said of the experience.

In another Wicker Park incident, a 20-year-old man being ticketed for being in Wicker Park's namesake park after hours — 2:30 a.m. Sunday — became "belligerent and uncooperative" and was arrested, Estrada said.

After refusing to give his name to police or provide identification, the man became combative when officers tried to arrest him.

After struggling with police, causing one officer to suffer a minor knee injury and a torn uniform, Jordan Figueroa, 20, of the 2500 block of South Kedzie Ave, was arrested and charged with several offenses, police said.

Figueroa was charged misdemeanors for: resisting/obstructing a peace officer; causing criminal damage to property; consumption of alcohol by a minor; and remaining on park property when closed, Estrada said.

After Figueroa was placed into custody, further investigation revealed had an active warrant for probation violation, Estrada said.

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